Safety appliance



J. R. WARNER ET AL SAFETY APPLIANCE Filed Oct. 29, 1929 '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES:

J. R. WARNER El AL SAFETY APPLIANCE Filed Oct. 29, 1920 Sheets-Sheet 2 AT'IIOEIINEY NOV: 10, 1925 ,561,383

J. R. WARNER El" AL SAFETY APPLIANCE I EN OR WITNESSES: m v am??? 3 2M Join: a lo}.

, ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. WARNER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, AND JOHN C. FOX, OF MANSFIELD,

OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING GOM- IPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Application filed October 29, 1820.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J OSEPH R. WARNER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, and JOHN 6. Fox, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mansfield, in the county of Rich: land and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to safety devices for use with machinery, such as punch presses and the like, and has for its object the provision of means whereby the machine will be prevented from accidental operation at any time, and whereby the operator will be prevented from actuating the machine with one hand while the other hand is in the act of placing material in the press or in removing punchings therefrom.

In work of this kind, the operators fingers are in constant danger and are frequently crushed through inadvertently or carelessly pushing the punch-controlling lever with one hand at the instant the other hand happens to be under the punch. To safeguard the operator we have produced a device which requires the simultaneous employment of both hands by the operator during each actuation 'of the punch. This we accomplish by the construction shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a punch press with our device applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a view, partially in section, showing the manner in which our device is connected to the operating lever of a punch press; 4

Fig. 3 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IVIV, Fig. 3, showing the positions of the parts of the safety device when the lever-operating mechanism is locked against movement to starting position, and

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the positions of the parts at the instant the operating lever has been moved to cause the actuation of the punch.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, it will be seen that the device is shown as applied to an ordinary punch press 6 hav- Serial No. 420,387.

ing the usual controlling lever 7, acting through suitable connections 8, to control the engagement of the clutch mechanism with a driving wheel 9 which actuates a cam to reciprocate a plunger 10 in the usual manner.

The locking device for controlling the actuation of the lever 7 is enclosed in a housing 12, having cut-out portions 13, 14 and 15 (Fig. 5), and having a hole 16 (Fig. 3) for the reception of the tubular extension 17 of the lever"?. Through this tubular extension extends the shaft 18 of the lever 19. Cover plate 20 is provided to enclose and prevent displacement of the working parts. The smaller holes in the housing are for the reception of screws to fasten the cover plate in place, while the larger holes receive bolts 21 for fastening the housing to the base of the punch press.

As shown in Fig. 5, the lever 7 has a bell-crank extension 22 fitting into recess 23 of the toothed bar 24, so that the oscillation of the lever 7 about its axis causes the bar 24 to slide back and forth in the recess 14 of the housing 12. The slide bar 24, through the latch member 26, makes engagement with the connections 8 to actuate the driving clutch of the punch press.

Carried in the recess 15 of the housing are looking members 27 and 28 that are adapted to engage the teeth of the bar 24 to prevent movement thereof. The look ing member 27 is provided with a recess 30 to accommodate the cam 29 carried on the end of the shaft 18, and the locking mem ber 28 is cut away, as indicated in Fig. 4, to permit the passage of toothed bar 24.

The locking member 27 is normally held in contact with toothed bar 24 by spring 31, and member 28 is kept under similar tension by the spring 32. It will be obs.

served that the locking member 27, when in engagement with the bar 24, prevents movement thereof rearwardly, while, when engaged by the member 28, the bar 24 is held against forward movement.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the lever 19 is normally held in neutral position by the springs 33. When in such position, the cam 29 is out of operative engagement with the locking member 27 and the parts occupy the position shown in Fig. 4,

and the lever 7 cannot be operated to move the bar 24 until the lever 19 is operated to cause the cam 29 to move the locking member 27 out of engagement with the bar 24.

Vith the parts in the position indicated in Figs. 1 to 4, the operation is as follows:

The lever 19 is depressed with the left hand, causing the cam 29 to rotate against the lower wall of recess 30 in the locking member 27, thereby withdrawing such member from its locking engagement with the bar 24 (see Fig. 5). Still holding the lever 19 in this position, against the torsion of springs 33, the operator, with his right hand, depresses lever 7, causing the bellcrank extension 22 thereof to move the bar 24 from the position occupied by it in Fig. 4, to the position indicated in Fig. 5.

When the bar 24 leaves its starting position it carries with it the spring-held latch member 26 and thereby actuates the clutch mechanism, through the connections 8, thus causing the plunger of the punch press to be set in motion. The stop member 34 disengages the latch 26 from the bar 24, which permits the springs 35 and 36 to return the connections 8 to neutral and so disengage the clutch. At each actuation of the lever 7, therefore, the punch press is caused to make one cycle of movement.

At this period, the locking parts are in substantially the position shown in Fig. 5, with the locking member 27 out of engagement with the bar 24 and the locking member 28 holding such bar in retracted position. The operator then releases lever 19, allowing it to be returned by springs 33 to its former position. During its return movement, it rotates the cam 29 out of engagement with looking member 27 and brings said cam into engagement with looking member 28, causing said member to release its engagement with the bar 24. The lever 7 may then be raised and the bar 24 returned to starting position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The operations just described are conducted quite rapidly and with the assurance that the press will, at no time, be operated while the operator is placing or removing punchings, because the levers 7 and 19 are of such height from the floor as to prevent actuation by the feet of the operator and are a distance apart sufficient to require the use of both hands, and because the lever 19 must be held in unlocking position with one hand at the instant the operating lever 7 is being actuated by the other hand.

It will be understood that various modifications in structure may be made without departing from the essential feature of our invention which resides broadly in the provision of means necessitating the use of both hands by the operator approximately at the time the punching operation is taking place.

lVe claim as our invention:

1. A control mechanism comprising a pair of operating levers, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, a plurality of lock members associated with said latch bar and means for actuating said lock members.

2. A control mechanism comprising a pair of operating levers, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, a plurality of lock members associated with said latch bar and means for releasing said lock members.

3. A control mechanism comprising a pair of operating levers, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, a plurality of lock members associated with said latch bar, means for actuating said lock members and means for actuating said latch bar.

4. A control mechanism comprising a pair of operating levers, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, a plurality of lock members associated with said latch bar, means for actuating said lock members and means independent of said lock actuating means for actuating said latch bar.

5. A control mechanism comprising an operating shaft, a pair of operating levers mounted on the respective ends thereof, means for biasing said shaft to an inoperative position, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, means for locking said bar and means on said lever shaft for releasing said locking means.

6. A control mechanism comprising an operating shaft, a pair of operating levers mounted on the respective ends thereof, means for biasing said shaft to an inoperative position, a latch bar for actuating a clutch member, connecting means for said bar and shaft, locking means associated with said bar and a cam mounted on said shaft in co-operative alinement with said locking means.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 6th day of October, 1920.

JOSEPH It. \VARNER. JOHN C. FOX. 

